Written by Aaron Grunwald
Published on 01.09.2022
Households surveyed by the Luxembourg Central Bank (BCL) in August 2022 said they were tightening their budgets. Library picture: Supermarket checkout tills seen in October 2020. Photo credit: Matic Zorman
Consumer confidence in the grand duchy has hit a new low, with the vast majority of households planning to put off “major purchases”.
The economic and financial outlook of Luxembourg households has slumped further. The monthly survey fielded by the Luxembourg Central Bank (BCL) recorded a lower score in August score than when Russia invaded Ukraine in March.
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The central bank’s consumer confidence indicator for August 2022 was -26, compared to -23 for July 2022 and -2 for August 2021, the BCL reported on Thursday. The indicator hit -24 in March 2022 and then had hovered between -21 and -23 until last month.
Households were not particularly more pessimistic about Luxembourg’s economy and their own future financial circumstances, although both measures remained quite negative. However, the BCL said “their intentions in terms of major purchases have fallen sharply.”
The indicator represents “the difference between the percentages of respondents giving positive and negative replies” across four components and is seasonally adjusted.
The BCL said the score for “consumers’ expectations of the general economic situation in Luxembourg” was -41 for August 2022, compared to -42 for July 2022 and +5 for August 2021.
The balance of households’ “perception of their financial situation over the past 12 months” was -20 for August 2022, compared to -15 for July 2022 and 0 for August 2021.
“Their expected financial situation over the next 12 months” was -17 for August 2022, unchanged from the previous month. It was +1 in August 2021.
The central bank said that its sub-indicator for consumers’ “intended spending on major purchases” was -27 for August 2022, compared to -18 for July 2022 and -12 for August 2021.